Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO) is an academic partner of the new University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) which gained its university title in 2011. As a specialist college within UHI, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig continues to be the only institution of higher learning where students can undertake their degree and postgraduate studies entirely through the medium of Gaelic. Within the Gaelic degree programmes, which were initially delivered in 1998, there is an emphasis on language use and language acquisition, with students gaining fluency in the language by the end of their first year and with continued language support and enhancement thereafter.
 
Over the years, the number of courses on offer through Sabhal Mòr Ostaig has expanded greatly, with opportunities to study on-site or at a distance on programmes which provide opportunities to gain fluency in Gaelic and prepare students for employment in various fields such as teaching, media related employment or language and community development related jobs.
 
Since 1991, media training in particular has been a very important part of the College’s education provision, when a television training trust was established and a diploma course in television and broadcasting was introduced. This course, which has evolved through time in response to the developing needs of the broadcast industry, is now recognised as the main Gaelic media training course. This was the start of an active partnership between the College and the broadcasting companies and statistics show that 70% of students who have studied the diploma course are still employed in the media industry.